Wind Energy - What Is Wind Energy and How To Use It

Wind is nothing but air in motion
which is caused by the heating of the earth’s surface by
the sun. However, as the earth’s surface consist of
plain land, hills, oceans, etc that do not lie in the
same level, the absorption of the heat varies a lot.
Also, during the daytime, the air above the earth’s
landmass heats up quicker than the same over the oceans,
causing it to expand and rise. As a result, cooler and
heavier air rushes in to fill the vacuum, while the
sundry levels of earth generates dissimilar air
currents.

People
since the ancient times had been using wind for sailing
ships in the high seas. The winds of the famous Roaring Forties
(latitudes
between 40?S
and 50? S) had played a
significant role in the Clipper route
(ships sailing
betweenEngland and
Australia) as a means of
rapid transit across the Indian Ocean. Besides, sailors were accustomed to
various trade winds that helped sailing through
uncharted oceans.

However, wind as a renewable form
of energy has again hit the headlines in the light of
crisis in fossil fuels and soaring Greenhouse gases.
Calamity in the availability of petroleum products,
caused by feuds among the middle-eastern oil producing
countries have further deteriorated the picture.
Wind energy
is, therefore,
back again as a source of producing electricity that may
be called a renewable energy source for the simple
reason that wind will blow as long as the earth’s
surface gets the sunrays.

Taking
the cue from earliest American settlers who used
windmills to grind corn, cut wood at sawmills or pump
water, engineers now build modern types of windmills
that do not resemble their earliest versions one bit,
but are equally if not far more efficient in running
generators to produce electricity. Why, even in the
early eighties California had taken the lead in
producing electricity through wind-based equipment and
still utilizes more than twice as much wind energy as
compared to the other US states. The first offshore
WindPark has been
planned in an area off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts where
various types of windmills or wind machines are
scheduled to be tested.

Though
there are basically two types windmills or wind machines
(turbines) produced in the United States, namely,
Horizontal-axis machines and Vertical-axis machines,
most of the equipment now used are the Horizontal-type
units. These machines have blades like airplane
propellers and stand as tall as a 20-storey structure
having three blades that spans 200’ across. Unbelievable
but true, the largest wind machine in the world have
blades larger than a football field to capture maximum
wind energy.

Wind
farms or wind power plants, as they are often called,
consist of several wind machines that are clustered
together to produce mass scale electricity, while the
world’s largest Wind Farm that is known as Horse Hollow
Wind Energy Center in Texas comprise 421 wind turbines
that generate electricity to serve more than 220,000
homes every year. However, such plants are mostly owned
and operated by individuals who produce and sell
electricity unlike public utility companies and are
known as Independent Power
Producers.

The
efficiency of wind turbines depend a lot on the sped of
wind which varies from place to place as also from
season to season. Fortunately for the
United
States, this logistics
works well in most areas. In California (Tehachapi) for
example, the wind blows strongly from April through
October due to severe heating of the Mojave Desert
during the summer months causing the surrounding air to
rise and the onrush of denser air from the Pacific Ocean to fill the void.
This help creating more electricity in summer so that
the Californians can operate their air conditioners more
freely. In Montana, on the other
hand, the blow of wind is stronger during the winter
months, creating enough electricity for the population
to use central heating in most homes and
establishments.

Next to solar power electricity,
wind energy
electricity is
the most eco-friendly form electric current that is
available from the nature. It is a clean fuel and a
green fuel available free of cost all through the year
although some amount of maintenance is necessary to keep
the rotating shafts ship shape all the while. In the
case of solar power, even this is not required as there
are no moving parts at all in a solar panel to keep it
going.